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Maletzki M, Das GN, Hajkova K, Kovarova P, Perlik M, Sbaraglia C, Spitzer L, Bartonova AS, Vrba P, Fric ZF, Konvicka M. Wetland butterfly thriving in abandoned jungle: Neptis rivularis in the Czech Republic. THE SCIENCE OF NATURE - NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN 2024; 111:34. [PMID: 38913166 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-024-01921-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2024] [Revised: 06/13/2024] [Accepted: 06/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/25/2024]
Abstract
With ongoing insect declines, species expanding in distribution and abundance deserve attention, as understanding their success may help design conservation strategies for less successful species. Common causes of these successes include warmer climates, novel resources, and exploiting land use change, including land abandonment. These factors affect the nymphalid butterfly Neptis rivularis, developing on Spiraea spp. shrubs and reaching the north-western limits of its trans-Palearctic distribution in Central Europe. We combined mark-recapture, behaviour analysis, and distribution modelling to study N. rivularis in wetlands of the Třeboňsko Protected Landscape (IUCN category V). The long-living adults (up to 4 weeks) spent a considerable amount of time searching for partners, ovipositing and nectaring at Spiraea shrubs, alternating this with stays in tree crowns, where they located cool shelters, spent nights, and presumably fed on honeydew. They formed high-density populations (310 adults/ha), exploiting high host plant abundance. They adhered to floodplains and to conditions of relatively mild winters. The ongoing Spiraea encroachment of abandoned alluvial grasslands is, thus, a transient situation, ultimately followed by forest encroachment. Rewilding the habitats by introducing native ungulates presents an opportunity to restore the disturbance regime of the sites. The increased resource supply combined with a warming climate has opened up temperate Europe to colonization by N. rivularis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moritz Maletzki
- Faculty of Nature and Technology, Hochschule Bremen - City University of Applied Sciences, Neustadtswall 30, 28199, Bremen, Germany
- Institute of Entomology, Biological Centre CAS, Branisovska 31, 37005, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Gaurab Nandi Das
- Institute of Entomology, Biological Centre CAS, Branisovska 31, 37005, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branisovska 31, 37005, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Klara Hajkova
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branisovska 31, 37005, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Pavlina Kovarova
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branisovska 31, 37005, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Michal Perlik
- Institute of Entomology, Biological Centre CAS, Branisovska 31, 37005, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branisovska 31, 37005, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Claudio Sbaraglia
- Institute of Entomology, Biological Centre CAS, Branisovska 31, 37005, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branisovska 31, 37005, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Lukas Spitzer
- Institute of Entomology, Biological Centre CAS, Branisovska 31, 37005, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
- Muzeum Regionu Valašsko, 755 01, Vsetín, Czech Republic
| | | | - Pavel Vrba
- Institute of Entomology, Biological Centre CAS, Branisovska 31, 37005, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branisovska 31, 37005, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Zdenek Faltynek Fric
- Institute of Entomology, Biological Centre CAS, Branisovska 31, 37005, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
- Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Kamýcká 129, 165 00, Praha-Suchodl, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Konvicka
- Institute of Entomology, Biological Centre CAS, Branisovska 31, 37005, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branisovska 31, 37005, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
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Habel JC, Schmitt T, Gros P, Ulrich W. Active around the year: Butterflies and moths adapt their life cycles to a warming world. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2024; 30:e17103. [PMID: 38273556 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2023] [Revised: 12/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
Living in a warming world requires adaptations to altered annual temperature regimes. In Europe, spring is starting earlier, and the vegetation period is ending later in the year. These climatic changes are leading not only to shifts in distribution ranges of flora and fauna, but also to phenological shifts. Using long-term observation data of butterflies and moths collected during the past decades across northern Austria, we test for phenological shifts over time and changes in the number of generations. On average, Lepidoptera adults emerged earlier in the year and tended to extend their flight periods in autumn. Many species increased the annual number of generations. These changes were more pronounced at lower altitudes than at higher altitudes, leading to an altered phenological zonation. Our findings indicate that climate change does not only affect community composition but also the life history of insects. Increased activity and reproductive periods might alter Lepidoptera-host plant associations and food webs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Christian Habel
- Evolutionary Zoology, Department of Environment and Biodiversity, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Thomas Schmitt
- Senckenberg German Entomological Institute, Müncheberg, Germany
- Entomology and Biogeography, Faculty of Science, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | | | - Werner Ulrich
- Department of Ecology and Biogeography, Nicolaus Copernicus University Toruń, Toruń, Poland
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Kleckova I, Okrouhlik J, Svozil T, Matos-Maraví P, Klecka J. Body size, not species identity, drives body heating in alpine Erebia butterflies. J Therm Biol 2023; 113:103502. [PMID: 37055121 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2023.103502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2022] [Revised: 02/07/2023] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2023]
Abstract
Efficient thermoregulation is crucial for animals living under fluctuating climatic and weather conditions. We studied the body heating of six butterfly species of the genus Erebia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) that co-occur in the European Alps. We tested whether butterfly physical characteristics (body size, wing loading) are responsible for the inter-specific differences in body temperatures recorded previously under natural conditions. We used a thermal camera to measure body heating of wild butterfly individuals in a laboratory experiment with artificial light and heating sources. We revealed that physical characteristics had a small effect on explaining inter-specific differences in mean body temperatures recorded in the field. Our results show that larger butterflies, with higher weight and wing loading, heated up more slowly but reached the same asymptotic body temperature as smaller butterflies. Altogether, our results suggest that differences in body temperatures among Erebia species observed in the field might be caused mainly by species-specific microhabitat use and point towards an important role of active behavioural thermoregulation in adult butterflies. We speculate that microclimate heterogeneity in mountain habitats facilitates behavioural thermoregulation of adults. Similarly, microclimate structuring might also increase survival of less mobile butterfly life stages, i.e., eggs, larvae and pupae. Thus, landscape heterogeneity in management practices may facilitate long term survival of montane invertebrates under increased anthropogenic pressures.
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